Tag: Alaska

Inside Passage – Echoes of the Past

SE Alaska and the coast of British Columbia are a place where the past does not get wiped away. Ruins, wrecks, and abandoned places are often left for nature to reclaim rather than scrapped or redeveloped. When traveling the waterways of the Inside Passage you are often wandering through echoes of the past.

Inside Passage – Echoes of the Past from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo

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Hiking the Sealion Cove Trail

The Sealion Cove trail is a beautiful hike over remote Kruzof island north of Sitka, Alaska. The only way to access the trailhead is by boat or seaplane. The trail starts on Kalinin Bay, passes through a small pass between two mountains and then drops down to the Pacific Ocean and the beautiful beach at Sealion Cove. At the midway point, in the pass, is a small and apparently unnamed lake.

Sealion Cove Trail
The first section of trail along the top of Kalinin Bay
I have been to the lake and back years past, but the group I was hiking with was not ready to go the full distance to the beach at Sealion Cove. This is not a place to hike alone. We ended up turning around after enjoying the scenery at the lake. This time I really wanted to go all the way.

The first section of the trail follows the shore of the wide estuary that drains into Kalinin bay. The trail follows the treeline where the high tides and saltwater prevent the spruce from encroaching further. While there has been some effort to improve the trail here, with gravel spread and rock strategically placed at the many small streams, the effort looks to be futile. Deep mud pockets sucked at our feet and required careful footing. The dry socks in my pocket were obviously going to stay in my pocket, my river sandals often full of mud.

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Newspaper Cottage

I was almost ready to turn around and head back, my father had several minutes ago. Hidden in the trees ahead I spot a dark shape… Another structure?

Newspaper Cottage
An abandoned cottage in the woods at Funter Bay
Drawing closer it is indeed a building, this one is not collapsed like most of the others we had found. There is not much left of the small cannery community in Funter Bay, the best preserved structures are those still used as private cabins. We had already found half a dozen collapsed buildings in the woods.

It may not yet have collapsed, but the inevitable is not far away. The front porch looks decidedly chancy, I avoid it as I slip carefully through the front door. A one room cabin with a small storage closet. The floor is covered with milled lumber that looks to have been salvaged from another structure. Various other bits of refuse and castoffs lie about, a crab pot, a gas can, no surprise.

Advertisements from 1919
Advertisements from 1919 including Libby’s mayonnaise salad dressing
It is the walls and ceiling that hold the real surprise. They are covered in newspaper pasted over the entire available surface. Was it decoration, a cheap wall paper? A way to eliminate drafts and make this little cabin more comfortable? Whatever the reason the newspapers are still mostly readable. Whole articles to be perused, a snapshot of another age.

The newspapers all bear dates from 1919, during the heyday of the cannery here in Funter Bay. There are samples from the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, and several other classic newspapers of the early 20th century. I find articles on various subjects, instead of reading I simply take a photo or two.

Fashion Plate from 1919
A fashion plate from a Woman’s Home Companion of April 1919
Alongside the articles there are also advertisements for many different products. Some are for familiar brands that are still around today. Others for brands and products lost to commercial history. Oregon City Woolen Mills, Philadelphia Battery, Boston Garter, Teco Self Rising Pancake Flour, I could spend all day reading here.

One of the most striking images is a fashion plate from a Woman’s Home Companion of April 1919. A very stylish design that catches my attention, a design that foretells the popular fashions of the roaring 20’s, a major shift in fashion that was leading to more modern designs. Exploring the ruins of an abandoned cannery this is not what I expected to find.

Changes in Tenakee

I realize things change, but sometimes the “improvements” seem to involve a loss. A loss of what was, a loss of a little piece of history.

Snyder Mercantile
The original early twentieth century interior of Snyder Mercantile, Tenakee
The Snyder Mercantile was a time capsule of another era. Built over a century ago the store was a glimpse into the past. The products on the shelves were fresh, mostly, but the store appeared much as it did decades ago. A single room with a little of everything from bread to fishing tackle and boat parts. They still used the century old cash register to ring up your sale. Never mind the trouble finding tape and ribbons, it still worked, emitting a classic bell ring as the total was calculated.

Snyder Mercantile
The rebuilt Snyder Mercantile, Tenakee
I was not pleasantly surprised when I made my way into the store. The old mercantile was gone, a modern interior greeted me. Some time since my last visit the past had been swept away. For a minute I could only stand there in the entrance, a feeling of loss overwhelming me. Some time in the last couple years the store has been rebuilt.

Much of the building has been replaced, from pilings to decking new lumber can be seen. The interior pays homage to the original, the walls made from the original tongue and groove woodwork stripped and stained. The stock is groceries, the hardware and tackle is mostly gone, only a few shelves remain. The old cash register is relegated to being a museum piece in the corner, a new computerized machine with a touch screen and laser scanner serves in its place. The satisfing crunch of gears and bell no longer signals each sale.

Snyder Mercantile
The rebuilt Snyder Mercantile in Tenakee
Having skipped Tenakee last season I had missed the changes. The renovations were completed last year. To be fair the renovations were probably necessary. The years of Alaskan winters had taken a toll on the structure. This climate is not kind to the works of man, particularly those built of wood. The location, built on pilings over a tidal flat makes this even worse.

Having first shopped in Snyder Mercantile back in 1994 I have been visiting this store for over two decades. Goods brought out from Juneau are not cheap, but we always have something that has run out after a week on the water. Tenakee means a few groceries and a soak in the hot springs. The changes are good, the store is better, but the rebulding of the century old store still seems a loss.

Nordic Quest 2014

As is my habit, I have produced a video summary of this summer’s voyage in the Nordic Quest. Take a few of the best photos, a little video, a snippet of timelapse, a decent tune, and mix well…

Nordic Quest 2014 from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo

Having done this more than a few times now it is getting harder to be creative. Still there are always unique shots that come back from any voyage, such as the mother grizzly and cubs. There is also a sequence I had always wanted to try, a timelapse of the huge Alaskan tide change. This time I had a chance to shoot it, and had some success.

Nordic Voyage

Ten days on the boat out of Juneau, our annual family trip fishing in Alaska is complete. This summer it was an all family affair… My mother and father, my brother and his wife, and their grandson Andre. Add Deb and myself for a total of seven aboard the Nordic Quest for ten days of fishing and exploring. The plan was to head south of Juneau, down Stephen’s Passage for the Frederick Sound area.

First stop was Taku Harbor for the night with the following day spent attempting to fish salmon in Stephen’s Passage. A pretty day, but no fish. The only luck we had was a single crab in one of the pots left overnight in Taku.

Dawes Glacier
The towering wall of ice that is Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm
On to Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. The weather was not great for visiting the ice, but we did arrive at low tide, the best time to see calving. We were rewarded by the sight of several ice-falls as the water level fell and the face of the glacier crumbled.

An afternoon spend fishing Halibut was rewarding as well, plenty of fish landed along with one hundred pound specimen caught by Andre. A halibut that big can not be gaffed and simply lifted into the cooler. Instead I harpooned the fish off the swim deck. My first harpoon shot was a bit off, hitting low, a second was much better, right through the spine behind the gills. Good this too, the fish promptly broke the steel leader. Two harpoon lines attached insured this fish was headed for the freezer.

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